Neutral Rights and Obligations in the Anglo-Boer WarCampbell, Robert Granville
History
Neutral Rights and Obligations in the Anglo-Boer War
Campbell, Robert Granville
Neutrality; South African War, 1899-1902
It was alleged by the captors that the ship's papers were not in proper
form, and that besides the flour and other foodstuffs she carried a
consignment of lubricating oil for the Netherlands South African
Railway. This consignment was held to be enemy's property since it was
considered that the railway belonged to the Transvaal, the specific
charge against the ship being that of trading with the enemy. The fact
that a consignment of flour was billed to a Lorenzo Marques firm but
labelled "Z.A.R." created a conclusive presumption, it was thought, that
the flour was intended for the Transvaal, although its owners claimed
that the consignment was not destined for the belligerent Republic but
for local consumption at Lorenzo Marques.[15]
[Footnote 15: For. Rel., 1900, pp. 538-539, 561.]
Both the cargo consigned to the Transvaal and the vessel herself were
claimed as lawful prize. The cargo, it was contended, was unprotected
since it was enemy's property, and the vessel, by trading with the
enemy, had violated a regulation which rendered it confiscable. Against
this it was urged that the consignees were hostile only by reason of
domicile, and that neither the owners of the ship nor the captain had
any intention to trade with the enemy. So far as intention was
concerned, it was shown that the captain had intended to pass a bond at
Algoa Bay, one of the ports of call, undertaking not to deliver the
goods at Delagoa Bay without the permission of the proper authorities.
The three judges of the Supreme Court of Cape Colony sitting as a prize
court came to different conclusions. The Chief Justice held that the
cargo should be condemned but not the ship. One opinion was that neither
ship nor cargo should be condemned; the third that both ship and cargo
should be condemned. There were thus two justices to one for condemning
the cargo and two to one against the condemnation of the ship. The cargo
was consequently condemned and the ship released.[16]
[Footnote 16: Decision at Cape Town, March 13, 1900, reported in Cape
Times, March 14, 1900.]
Different views were also held by the judges with reference to the
condemnation of the goods aboard the _Mashona_. The Chief Justice held
that the intention of the captain to alter the destination of the goods
was sufficiently established to prevent their condemnation. The other
justices dissented on this point. They held that the goods should be
regarded in prize law as the property of residents of the Transvaal, and
that such ownership did not seem possible of denial. In their opinion
there was sufficient reason for condemning the goods since they were
enemy's property captured on the high sea in a non-neutral ship.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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